Media hub devices with passive monitoring of user devices and targeted media transmission through in-channel transmission or shifted channel transmission

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods associated with media hub devices are provided that passively monitor user devices and transmit targeted media through in-channel transmissions that use the same channel used to monitor the user devices, or shifted channel transmissions that are different than the channel used to monitor the user devices. For example, a media hub device may passively monitor customer devices by scanning a wireless communication channel and obtaining device identification information transmitted by a user device that communicates the device identification information via the wireless communication channel. A media hub device may link the user device with a particular user or may anonymously monitor user behavior, through the monitored user device, without explicit knowledge of the identity of the user. Targeted media may be provided to the user device either in-channel using the same channel used to passively monitor the user device or a shifted channel using a different channel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/203,700, filed Aug. 11, 2015, which is hereby incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety. This application is also related tothe following, co-pending U.S. utility patent application, filed on evendate herewith: U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ [Attorney DocketNo. 45NY-243631], entitled “Self-Configuring Networked Media Hub DevicesWith Automated Configuration and Failover Recovery of Peers,” which isalso hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to media hub devices that passively monitor userdevices and transmit targeted media through in-channel transmissionsthat use the same channel used to monitor the user devices, or shiftedchannel transmissions that are different than the channel used tomonitor the user devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Identifying consumer behavior both online (e.g., while a user isinteracting with a network) and offline (e.g., the user's in-storebehavior) can be difficult due to the challenges associated with linkinga user device that the user uses to access a network (e.g., theInternet) and a customer identifier (e.g., a frequent shopper card orother identifier) that the user may use in-store. For these and otherreasons, it may be difficult to reach the user while the user isin-store. These and other problems exist with systems that monitor userbehavior, whether online or offline.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention addressing these and other drawbacks relates to systemsand methods associated with media hub devices that passively monitoruser devices and transmit targeted media through in-channeltransmissions that use the same channel used to monitor the userdevices, or shifted channel transmissions that are different than thechannel used to monitor the user devices.

According to an aspect of the invention, a device, referred to herein asa “media hub” or “media hub device” may be deployed at a location of aretail store or other facility (“deployment location” or “deployedlocation”). For example, a media hub may be deployed in each check-outlane (or other checkout area or station) of a retail store, and may beconfigured to perform various functions associated with other in-storedevices (e.g., other media hubs in nearby check-out lanes, or othersystem components), as well as functions associated with a customer'sactivities in a retail store, as described in greater detail herein.

In one implementation, a media hub device may passively monitor customerdevices (used interchangeably herein throughout, along with singularforms, with “user devices”) by scanning a wireless communication channeland obtaining device identification information transmitted by a userdevice that communicates the device identification information via thewireless communication channel. Such user devices may communicate theirdevice identification information in association with discovery or localnetwork logon processes. For example, a user device may broadcast itsdevice identification information via a Bluetooth channel to make itselfdiscoverable to other Bluetooth-enabled devices or may provide awireless router with its device identification information inassociation with a request to connect to the router.

A media hub device may identify user devices through such passivemonitoring and provide targeted media to the user devices, whetherthrough in-channel transmission (e.g., the same communication channelthrough which a user device was monitored such as a directBluetooth-based download/upload) or shifted channel transmission (e.g.,a different communication channel than the channel from which the userdevice was monitored such as an electronic mail or user interfacegraphic transmitted via a wide area or public network).

The media hub may be used to identify users or at least recognize aperson as the same user even if the actual user's identity is not known.For example, if a user has provided loyalty card information during acheckout, and the media hub identifies data associated with the userdevice (e.g., a device identifier or other identifier), this data may bestored as part of a user profile in a database (along with, for example,transaction history information and other profile information)accessible by the media hub. On a subsequent visit, if a media hubdetects the user device, the user may be identified (and loyalty accountdata retrieved) even if the user does not have, or does not enter, theirloyalty number. In this manner, targeted offers and other user-specificservices may be provided. Similarly, payment information, user-enteredidentification information, and other information can be linked andstored in a user profile and used in a similar way. According to animplementation of the invention, even if a user does not have a loyaltycard (e.g., has not signed up for a loyalty account), a media hub maystore identifying information for the user device in association withtransaction information such as purchases made. In this manner, themedia hub may target media such as offers to the user based on detectionof the user's device in subsequent visits based on purchases made whilethe user's device was detected during previous visits.

Based on the discovered association between the user device and a user,the system facilitates user activity monitoring and media targeting andtransmission in-store (e.g., before, during, and immediately after atransaction) and out-of-store (e.g., while online on the Internet). Assuch, through such passive monitoring by media hub devices, acomprehensive view of a user's online activity and offline activity(e.g., in-store shopping) may be obtained and used to target media basedon the user's online and/or offline activity.

For implementations in which a media hub device is deployed near or withpoint of sale terminals of a retail store, the media hub device may beable to discern whether a user device is associated with a pendingtransaction that has been already initiated (e.g., at a point of saleassociated with the media hub device), or is associated with atransaction waiting to be initiated. For example, a first user deviceand a second user device may be discovered by the media hub device viathe wireless communication channel. The first user device may be carriedby a first user who is currently checking out (or is being checked out)at the point of sale terminal. The second user device may be carried bya second user who is waiting to checkout (e.g., is in line to checkout).Different targeted media may be provided depending on whether atransaction is currently pending or is waiting to be initiated. Forexample, at least some of the current items in the current transactionmay be used to target media to a user device associated with a user whois currently being checked out.

The media hub device may distinguish the two devices in various ways.For example, the media hub device may distinguish the two devices basedon signal strength indications. In these instances, the first userdevice may be closer in proximity and therefore be associated with astronger signal strength than the second user device. As such, the mediahub device may determine that the second user device is carried by thesecond user who is waiting in line. In another example, a pendingtransaction may be associated with a user identification (e.g., aloyalty card, payment card, etc.). The user identification may be usedto lookup device identification information associated with the useridentification. As such, because the user identification is being usedin the pending transaction, the media hub device may determine that thefirst user device is associated with the user identification, which isbeing used in the pending transaction.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device isembedded with or includes a point of sale printer associated with apoint of sale terminal. The media hub device may determine that atransaction at the point of sale terminal is pending and transmittargeted the media to the first user device while the transaction ispending. In this manner, a user may receive targeted media while waitingfor the transaction to be complete.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub devicemay determine that the transaction is complete. For example, the mediahub device may receive an end of transaction signal from the point ofsale terminal and/or may receive an instruction to begin printing aphysical receipt. In response, the media hub device may print a physicalreceipt that documents the transaction. Alternatively or additionally,the media hub device may transmit an electronic receipt to the firstuser device. According to an implementation of the invention, the mediahub device may identify targeted media after the transaction iscomplete. For example, the targeted media may be identified based onitems associated with the transaction and/or other user behavior. Themedia hub device may transmit such targeted media upon completion of thetransaction. The media hub device may transmit such targeted media uponembedded or in association with an electronic receipt that documents thetransaction. According to an implementation of the invention, the mediahub device may print (e.g., on a physical receipt) the targeted media,which may be formatted appropriately for printing.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub devicemay store the transaction information in association with identificationinformation that identifies the first user device. In this manner,purchase activity associated with the first user device may be storedfor later retrieval (and subsequent targeting).

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub devicemay determine whether or not identification information that identifiesa monitored user device is associated with a customer identification(such as a loyalty identifier, credit card number, etc.). If so, themedia hub device may target media based on customer behavior informationknown about the user identified by the customer identification. If not,the media hub device may attempt to identify the customer associatedwith (e.g., carries) the user device based on techniques describedherein.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub maydetermine whether a customer has already downloaded a client applicationsuch as a predetermined mobile application (e.g., a loyalty applicationassociated with the retailer or other entity, or other application). Ifit is determined that a customer has not already downloaded apredetermined mobile application, the media hub may incent or otherwiseprompt the customer to download the application. As a non-limitingexample, the media hub may be in operative communication with an in-laneprinter so as to cause the in-lane printer to print a message on a POSreceipt at the conclusion of a transaction. The message may include a QRcode or other message to prompt the customer to perform the download. Anincentive may also be provided to the customer as desired. Optionally,upon download of the mobile application, the customer may be prompted toenter customer identification information (e.g., loyalty cardinformation, mobile number, device identifier and/or other customeridentification information). A user profile may be updated upondetection that the user has downloaded the mobile application. Thisstatus indicator may be used during subsequent visits to enable themedia hub to communicate directly with the known customer's mobiledevice as described herein. By way of example, the media hub may be usedto detect the presence of the customer device and read user or deviceidentification data (or other identifier) and compare it with previouslystored information to identify the customer and/or customer-relatedinformation.

According to an implementation of the invention, whether or not the userhas accepted the invitation and installed the client application, themedia hub device may store the transaction information relating to thepending transaction in association with the device identificationinformation of the monitored device. In this manner, customer behaviorfor users who do not download the client application may still bemonitored based on passively monitored device identification information(assuming the customer carries the associated user device when the useris at the deployed location).

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub devicemay obtain a customer identification. For example, the customeridentification may be scanned or otherwise read at a point of saleterminal, to which the media hub device is communicably coupled (viawired or wireless connection). The media hub device may store thecustomer identification in association with the device identificationinformation. In this manner, an identity of a user may be determinedduring subsequent visits based on a passively monitored deviceidentification information (again, assuming the customer carries theassociated user device when the user is at the deployed location).Accordingly, a user may be deemed to be located within the deployedlocation even if the user has not yet provided a customer identificationor other means of identification.

According to an implementation of the invention, the association betweenthe user device and the customer identification may be transmitted to anoffer management system. The offer management system may monitor auser's online activity using the user device (e.g., activity while notat the deployed location such as making online purchases or Internethistories), and may store such online activity in association with thecustomer identification. The customer identification may be anonymizedas appropriate to protect any personally identifying information (to theextent required and/or to the extent that the user has not opted-in forthe system to use such information). In this manner, both online andoffline activity of a user may be monitored by the system based onpassively monitored user devices by media hub devices deployed atparticular locations. It should be noted that the various targeted mediadescribed herein may be identified based on online activity (as usedherein, the term “activity” may be used interchangeably throughout with“behavior”) and/or offline activity. Furthermore, such targeted mediamay be provided to the user while the user is waiting in line at a pointof sale for a transaction to be initiated, during the transaction, uponcompletion of the transaction, while the user is online, or while theuser is not at the deployed location.

A media hub may comprise its own motherboard with one or more dedicatedprocessors, memory, buses, peripherals, etc. A media hub may have itsown operating system that runs processes, applications, etc., and mayserve as an in-lane platform that can perform the functionality setforth herein along with future functionality. The media hub may compriseone or more self-configuring wireless device(s) to reduce the need formanual set-up or configuration.

In one implementation of the invention, the media hub may comprise astand-alone device that may be connected directly or wirelessly to an(in-store) in-lane printer or other system component.

Alternatively, the media hub may comprise a component of another devicelocated at the POS such as, for example, a printer. In oneimplementation, for instance, the media hub may comprise a wirelessprinter that includes a printer control component and a separatecontroller (or other components) that enable the identified features andfunctions of the media hub. Other configurations may be implemented. Oneadvantage of the wireless printer is that it avoids the need for cablesto connect the printer to an in-store server. Another advantage is theability to make the printers self-configuring as described herein.Additionally, the media hub may be updated (e.g., new functionality andor applications added) wirelessly and/or remotely.

According to an implementation of the invention, media hub(s) may becoupled to a local network (e.g., a local area network, a wirelessnetwork, a cellular data network, etc.) in a retail facility. Thenetwork may track locations of customers in the facility (e.g., bytracking the locations of the customers' devices). Variouslocation-based services may be implemented as a result of thisconfiguration.

In one implementation of the invention, the media hub may be controlledor otherwise be configured by an offer management system. The offermanagement system may be coupled to the various media hubs in a retailfacility over a network connection, such as the local network in theretail facility, or a larger network, such as an extranet or theInternet. The offer management system may support various features ofthe media hubs, including installation and/or configuration of the mediahubs. As an example, the offer management system may manage installationof media hubs when the media hubs are initially powered on or on-boardedto the local network, as previously described. As another example, theoffer management system may manage configuration of one or more of themedia hubs when those media hubs are powered-down or off-boarded fromthe local network.

Once configured, a media hub may be operable to perform variousfunctions associated with a customer's activities in a retail storeincluding, but not limited to, a customer checking out at a checkoutlane in a retail store. The media hub may attempt to identify a customerin a checkout lane in a variety of ways (described in detail below). Themedia hub may, for instance, detect the presence of a digital device(e.g., a smartphone or other mobile device) associated with thecustomer.

The media hub may be used to identify customers or at least recognize aperson as the same customer even if the actual customer's identity isnot known. For example, if a customer has provided loyalty cardinformation during a checkout, and the media hub identifies dataassociated with the customer device (e.g., a device identifier or otheridentifier), this data may be stored as part of a user profile in adatabase (along with, for example, transaction history information andother profile information) accessible by the media hub. On a subsequentvisit, if a media hub detects the customer device, the customer may beidentified (and loyalty account data retrieved) even if the customerdoes not have, or does not enter, their loyalty number. In this manner,targeted offers and other customer-specific services may be provided.Similarly, payment information, user-entered identification information,and other information can be linked and stored in a user profile andused in a similar way. In some instances, even if a customer does nothave a loyalty card (e.g., has not signed up for a loyalty account), amedia hub may store identifying information for the customer device inassociation with transaction information such as purchases made. In thismanner, the media hub may target media such as offers to the customerbased on detection of the customer's device in subsequent visits basedon purchases made while the customer's device was detected duringprevious visits.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub maydetermine whether a customer has already downloaded a client applicationsuch as a predetermined mobile application (e.g., a loyalty applicationassociated with the retailer or other entity, or other application). Ifit is determined that a customer has not already downloaded apredetermined mobile application, the media hub may incent or otherwiseprompt the customer to download the application. As a non-limitingexample, the media hub may be in operative communication with an in-laneprinter so as to cause the in-lane printer to print a message on a POSreceipt at the conclusion of a transaction. The message may include a QRcode or other message to prompt the customer to perform the download. Anincentive may also be provided to the customer as desired. Optionally,upon download of the mobile application, the customer may be prompted toenter customer identification information (e.g., loyalty cardinformation, mobile number, device identifier and/or other customeridentification information). A user profile may be updated upondetection that the user has downloaded the mobile application. Thisstatus indicator may be used during subsequent visits to enable themedia hub to communicate directly with the known customer's mobiledevice as described herein. By way of example, the media hub may be usedto detect the presence of the customer device and read user or deviceidentification data (or other identifier) and compare it with previouslystored information to identify the customer and/or customer-relatedinformation.

Additionally, the media hub may be used to transmit offers directly to acustomer device. This action may be occur in lieu of (or in addition to)printing offers on a receipt. The media hub may be configured to makeand deliver offer determinations in-lane at the time of checkout. Thisis a significant advantage over many systems where offers are createdand managed at a remote offer management system (often under control ofa third party), or by an in-store server located remote from thecheckout lanes. The media hub may access and/or receive data from thePOS terminal (e.g., to obtain real-time data regarding items that acustomer is purchasing). The media hub may also receive information froma remote offer management system (in batch and/or real-time), and/or anin-store server. This information may be used to generate real-time,targeted offers, which can be delivered to the customer via a printedreceipt, via direct communication to the customer device, or both.

Another advantage of the invention is the ability of the media hub totransmit a receipt directly to a customer device (e.g., via textmessage, BLE, or other messaging protocol) without using electronicmail. This is beneficial in that it avoids the ability for third-partye-mail service providers to datamine the contents of the receipt fortargeted marketing, keyword advertising, or other purposes.

These and other objects, features, and characteristics of the systemand/or method disclosed herein, as well as the methods of operation andfunctions of the related elements of structure and the combination ofparts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent uponconsideration of the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only andare not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As usedin the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”,and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C are exemplary depictions of a mobile marketing environment,according to aspects of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary depiction of an offer management system,according to an implementation of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary depiction of a media hub, according to animplementation of the invention.

FIG. 4A depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations forinstalling a media hub, according to an implementation of the invention.

FIG. 4B is an exemplary depiction of a process of installing a mediahub, according to an implementation of the invention.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations forrecovery from a failed media hub, according to an implementation of theinvention.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations foridentifying a customer through analysis of data from a plurality ofcustomer devices, according to an implementation of the invention.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations forproviding offers to a mobile application on a customer device based onproximity to a media hub and customer behavior, according to animplementation of the invention.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations fordirecting customers to a specific marketing channel based on customerbehavior, according to an implementation of the invention.

FIG. 9A depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations forproviding purchase data to a secure mobile application on a customerdevice proximate to a media hub, according to an implementation of theinvention.

FIG. 9B is an exemplary depiction of a process of providing offers to asecure mobile application on a customer device proximate to a media hub,according to an implementation of the invention.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary depiction of a computer system, according to animplementation of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to wireless Point of Sale (“POS”)interaction management systems and methods, including printers or otherdevices with wireless connectivity, to communicate with customers'mobile devices in a retail check-out lane (or other retail facilitylocation), as well as other system components either directly orindirectly (via wired or wireless communication) as described in greaterdetail herein.

Exemplary System Architecture

FIGS. 1A-1C are exemplary depictions of a mobile marketing environment,according to aspects of the invention. The exemplary depictions, whichcomprise various system components in various configurations, areexemplary only and should not be viewed as limiting in any way. Othersystem configurations may be used as well, as would be appreciated bythose having skill in the art.

With reference to FIG. 1A, mobile marketing environment 100A may includea plurality of people, such as a first customer 105, a second customer110, a cashier 115, and an administrator 120. Mobile marketingenvironment 100A may further include a plurality of devices, includingfirst customer device(s) 125, second customer device(s) 130, a point ofsale terminal(s) 135, one or more media hub(s) 140, an administratordevice 145, a computer network 150, a sale management system 155, and anoffer management system 160. The mobile marketing environment 100A mayfurther include a facility 170 and a queue (or check-out lane) 175.

The facility 170 may correspond to any physical facility. In someimplementations, the facility 170 corresponds to a store, such as agrocery store, a drug store, a clothing store, a supermarket, a big boxretailer, a deli, etc. The facility 170 may also correspond to portionsof an event center, a stadium, an airport, a railway station, etc. Thefacility 170 may, for example, include the first customer 105, thesecond customer 110, the cashier 115, the administrator 120, the firstcustomer device(s) 125, the second customer device(s) 130, the point ofsale terminal(s) 135, the media hub(s) 140, and the administrator device145. In one non-limiting implementation, the sale management system 155and/or the offer management system 160 may be located remotely from thefacility 170. Of course, the number and location of each of the systemcomponents may vary in different implementations.

For ease of illustration, FIG. 1A depicts only a single queue (orcheck-out lane) 175 along with the point of sale terminal(s) 135 and themedia hub(s) 140. It should be appreciated that facility 170 maycomprise any number of queues (or check-out lanes) 175, each having itsown point of sale terminal(s) 135, media hub(s) 140, and cashier 115. Itshould additionally be appreciated that the point of sale terminal(s)135 need not be not managed by a person, but may rather comprise aterminal allowing for self-service (or automated) checkout.

The first customer 105 may include a first person in the facility 170.The first customer 105 may be located at a first location along (e.g.,at a head of) the queue 175. The first customer 105 may also be at afirst distance from the point of sale terminal(s) 135. Moreparticularly, the first customer 105 may be sufficiently close to thepoint of sale terminal(s) 135 to pay for one or more items being sold inthe facility 170. For example, the first customer 105 may besufficiently close to the point of sale terminal(s) 135 to provide cash,credit and/or other payment cards, and/or mobile payments (e.g., withinthe vicinity of a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip of the point ofsale terminal(s) 135) to the point of sale terminal(s) 135.

The second customer 110 may include a second person in the facility 170.The second customer 110 may be located at a second location along (e.g.,a location other than the head of) the queue 175. The second customer110 may be located at a second distance from the point of saleterminal(s) 135. As an example, the second customer 110 may be locatedat a distance from the point of sale terminal(s) 135 that is sufficientfor the second customer device(s) 130 to communicate with the mediahub(s) 140 using the techniques described herein. The second customer110 may, but need not, be sufficiently close to the point of saleterminal(s) 135 to provide cash, credit and/or other payment cards,and/or mobile payments to the point of sale terminal(s) 135. The spacingbetween the second customer 110 and the first customer 105 may includeany convenient distance. In some implementations, the second customer110 is spaced from the first customer 105 by as little as several (e.g.,one to five) feet, as may be common in the queues of some supermarketsor drug stores. In various implementations, the second customer 110 isspaced from the first customer 105 by several or more yards, as may becommon in the queues of many clothing stores or stores (e.g., some drugstores) where the first customer 105 is provided privacy about specificitems the first customer 105 may be purchasing.

The cashier 115 may comprise a person who manages the point of saleterminal(s) 135. The cashier 115 may include an employee, contractor,affiliate, etc. of the facility 170. It is noted that although FIG. 1Ashows the cashier 115 as a person, various implementations need notinclude a person to manage the point of sale terminal(s) 135. Morespecifically, as noted above, and as discussed further herein, the pointof sale terminal(s) 135 need not be managed by a person, but may rathercomprise an automated terminal that facilitates purchase of itemswithout human intervention.

The administrator 120 may include a person who administers theadministrator device 145. The administrator 120 may comprise anemployee, contractor, affiliate, etc. of the facility 170 or of anentity that owns, manages, etc. the facility 170. In someimplementations, the administrator 120 includes network managementpersonnel, security management personnel, marketing personnel, etc.Though FIG. 1A shows the administrator 120 as located within thefacility 170, it is noted that in various implementations, theadministrator 120 may be located outside the facility 170. For example,the administrator 120 may be located at a remote location that isconnected to the devices in the facility 170 (e.g., media hub(s) 140,the administrator device 145, etc.) through the computer network 150. Itis further noted that while FIG. 1A shows a single administrator 120,the element 120 may represent a plurality of individuals and/or groupsthat administer the administrator device 145. Further, the administrator120 may not be integral to the operation of the system and may,therefore, be present only in select circumstances (e.g., for equipmentdeployment, maintenance, etc.), if at all.

The first customer device(s) 125 may include one or more digital devicesassociated with the first customer 105. In some implementations, thefirst customer device(s) 125 include components, such as memory and atleast one processor, of a computer system, such as the computer system1000 shown in FIG. 10. The first customer device(s) 125 may comprise,for instance, one or more of a mobile phone, a tablet computing device,or other mobile computing device. In some implementations, the firstcustomer device(s) 125 may be configured to facilitate payments (e.g.,mobile payments) to the point of sale terminal(s) 135. The firstcustomer device(s) 125 may also be configured to include locationalhardware (Global Positioning System (GPS) circuitry, Bluetooth LowEnergy (BLE) circuitry, wireless network triangulation circuitry, etc.)and/or software that allows locations of the first customer device(s)125 to be identified by the media hub(s) 140 and/or other devices in thefacility 170. The first customer device(s) 125 may further supportapplications, such as mobile applications (e.g., mobile applicationssupported by marketers and/or merchants). In some implementations, thefirst customer device(s) 125 includes hardware and/or software thatallow barcodes, Quick Response (QR) codes, etc. to be scanned.

The second customer device(s) 130 may include one or more digitaldevices associated with the second customer 110. The second customerdevice(s) 130 may include components, such as memory and at least oneprocessor, of a computer system, such as the computer system 1000 shownin FIG. 10. The second customer device(s) 130 may include one or more ofa mobile phone, a tablet computing device, a laptop computer, or othermobile computing device. The second customer device(s) 130 may furtherinclude locational hardware and/or software that allow locations of thesecond customer device(s) 130 to be identified by the media hub(s) 140and/or other devices in the facility 170. The second customer device(s)130 may further support applications, such as mobile applications and/orinclude hardware and/or software that allow barcodes, QR codes, etc. tobe scanned.

The second customer device(s) 130 may be coupled to the media hub(s) 140using a peer-to-peer connection or other connection. For instance, asdiscussed further herein, the second customer device(s) 130 may becoupled to the media hub(s) 140 over a BLE connection that provides themedia hub(s) 140 with locations of the second customer device(s) 130 inthe facility 170.

The point of sale terminal(s) 135 may include one or more digitaldevices configured to facilitate payments for items in the facility 170.The point of sale terminal(s) 135 may include components, such as memoryand at least one processor, of a computer system, such as the computersystem 1000 shown in FIG. 10. The point of sale terminal(s) 135 mayfurther include one or more of a mobile phone, a tablet computingdevice, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a server, or somecombination thereof. The point of sale terminal(s) 135 may include aregister that receives cash, credit and/or other payment cards, and/ormobile payments for items customers are purchasing. The point of saleterminal(s) 135 may be coupled to the computer network 150. As discussedfurther herein, the point of sale terminal(s) 135 may provideinformation to and receive information from the media hub(s) 140 overthe computer network 150. As also discussed further herein, the point ofsale terminal(s) 135 may be supported by the sale management system 155.In various implementations, each point of sale terminal(s) 135 may belocated at the end of a corresponding checkout lane in the facility 170.

According to one implementation of the invention, and as noted above,the media hub(s) 140 may comprise a stand-alone device that may beconnected directly or wirelessly to an (in-store) in-lane printer orother system component.

Alternatively, the media hub(s) 140 may comprise a component of anotherdevice located at the POS such as, for example, a printer. The mediahub(s) 140 may, for instance, comprise a wireless printer that includesa printer control component and a separate controller (or othercomponents) that enable the identified features and functions of themedia hub. One advantage of the wireless printer is that it avoids theneed for cables to connect the printer to an in-store server. Anotheradvantage is the ability to make the printers self-configuring asdescribed herein. Additionally, the media hub may be updated (e.g., newfunctionality and or applications added) wirelessly and/or remotely.

The media hub(s) 140 may include components, such as memory and at leastone processor, of a computer system, such as the computer system 1000shown in FIG. 10. In some implementations, the media hub(s) 140 mayfurther include docking stations, storage (e.g., flash or other memorydrives), network cards (e.g., Ethernet and/or smart network cards), etc.

In some implementations, the media hub(s) 140 may comprise a motherboardhaving the memory and the at least one processor incorporated thereon.The motherboard of the media hub(s) 140 may further include networkaccess hardware that supports connections to the computer network 150and/or other devices in the facility 170. For example, in someimplementations, the motherboard of the media hub(s) 140 may includehardware that supports a wireless network connection (e.g., an 802.11WiFi connection, a cellular data connection, etc.), and/or a wirednetwork connection (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a DSL connection,etc.). The wireless network connection and/or the wired networkconnection may allow data to be transmitted to and received from thepoint of sale terminal(s) 135 or other system components.

In various implementations, the motherboard of the media hub(s) 140 mayinclude hardware that supports BLE and/or 802.11 WiFi connections to oneor more customer devices (e.g., to the first customer device(s) 125and/or the second customer device(s) 130). The BLE and/or 802.11 WiFiconnections may help identify locations of the customer devices usingthe techniques described herein. In various implementations, themotherboard of the media hub(s) 140 may further include peripheralcomponents, such as printers that can be used to print coupons, barcodes, QR codes, etc.

In some implementations, as noted above, a plurality of media hub(s) 140may be located at different locations in the facility 170. As anexample, in some implementations, each of a plurality of the mediahub(s) 140 may be located near each of a plurality of the point of saleterminal(s) 135. Each of the plurality of media hub(s) 140 may beassociated with each of the plurality of the point of sale terminal(s)135. Example associations include one-to-one associations andassociations where one of the media hub(s) 140 is associated with aplurality of the point of sale terminal(s) 135. FIG. 3 shows the mediahub device 140 in greater detail. Other configurations may beimplemented.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub(s) 140may be configured to provide targeted media to customer devices withinthe facility 170. Targeted media may include a “targeted offer,” whichmay refer to any offer or inducement to purchase an item and/or servicethat is targeted to specific customers based on the customers' behavior,historical or current actions, and/or other factors related to thecustomers. Items and/or services associated with targeted offers fromthe media hub(s) 140 may or may not be located within the facility 170.Moreover, items and/or services associated with targeted offers from themedia hub(s) 140 may or may not be sold by merchants who manage thefacility 170. Examples of targeted offers include advertisements,coupons, inducements, offers, etc. that are provided to customer devicesover the computer network 150 (e.g., to a mobile application on acustomer device).

The administrator device 145 may include one or more digital devicesconfigured to allow the administrator 120 to control the media hubs(s)140. The administrator device 145 may include components, such as memoryand at least one processor, of a computer system, such as the computersystem 1000 shown in FIG. 10. The administrator device 145 may furtherinclude one or more of a networked phone, a tablet computing device, alaptop computer, a desktop computer, a server, or some combinationthereof. In various implementations, the administrator device 145 allowsthe administrator 120 to install instances of the media hub(s) 140,configure instances of the media hub(s) 140, and identify offers and/ortargeting information related to targeted offers from the media hub(s)140. The administrator device 145 may be supported by the offermanagement system 160, as described further herein.

The computer network 150 may comprise any computer network. The computernetwork 150 may include a networked system that includes severalcomputer systems coupled together, such as the Internet. The term“Internet” as used herein refers to a network of networks that usescertain protocols, such as the TCP/IP protocol, and possibly otherprotocols such as the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) for hypertextmarkup language (HTML) documents that make up the World Wide Web (theweb). Content is often provided by content servers, which are referredto as being “on” the Internet. A web server, which is one type ofcontent server, is typically at least one computer system which operatesas a server computer system and is configured to operate with theprotocols of the web and is coupled to the Internet. The physicalconnections of the Internet and the protocols and communicationprocedures of the Internet and the web are well known to those of skillin the relevant art. In various implementations, the computer network150 may be implemented as a computer-readable medium, such as a bus,that couples components of a single computer together. For illustrativepurposes, it is assumed the computer network 150 broadly includes, asunderstood from relevant context, anything from a minimalist coupling ofthe components illustrated in the example of FIG. 1, to every componentof the Internet and networks coupled to the Internet.

In various implementations, the computer network 150 may includetechnologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability formicrowave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. The computer network 150 may further include networkingprotocols such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), HTTP, simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), file transferprotocol (FTP), and the like. The data exchanged over the computernetwork 150 can be represented using technologies and/or formatsincluding HTML and extensible markup language (XML). In addition, all orsome links can be encrypted using conventional encryption technologiessuch as secure sockets layer (SSL), transport layer security (TLS), andInternet Protocol security (IPsec). In some implementations, thecomputer network 150 comprises secure portions. The secure portions ofthe computer network 150 may correspond to a networked resources managedby an organization, networked resources that reside behind a specificgateway/router/switch, networked resources associated with a specificInternet domain name, and/or networked resources managed by a commonInformation Technology (“IT”) unit.

The sale management system 155 may include one or more digital devicesconfigured to support the point of sale terminal(s) 135. The salemanagement system 155 may include components, such as memory and atleast one processor, of a computer system, such as the computer system1000 shown in FIG. 10. The sale management system 155 may furtherinclude one or more servers (e.g., dedicated servers, shared servers,distributed servers, etc.). In various implementations, the salemanagement system 155 provides the point of sale terminal(s) 135 withquantity, price, and other information related to items in the facility170. The sale management system 155 may also support payments for itemspurchased at the point of sale terminal(s) 135. The sale managementsystem 155 may be coupled to the computer network 150. In variousimplementations, the sale management system 155 may provide informationrelated to purchases (e.g., receipts of purchases) to the customerdevice(s). For example, in some implementations, the sale managementsystem 155 may provide receipts related to purchases made at the pointof sale terminal(s) 135 to a mobile application on the customerdevice(s).

The offer management system 160 may include one or more digital devicesconfigured to support the media hub(s) 140. The offer management system160 may include components, such as memory and at least one processor,of a computer system, such as the computer system 1000 shown in FIG. 10.The offer management system 160 may further include one or more servers(e.g., dedicated servers, shared servers, distributed servers, etc.).FIG. 2 shows the offer management system 160 in greater detail.

Although FIG. 1A shows the media hub(s) 140 and the offer managementsystem 160 as separate from one another, it is noted that in variousimplementations, the functionalities of the media hub(s) 140 and theoffer management system 160 may be incorporated into a single device.The single device may be located within the facility 170 or may becoupled to devices in the facility 170 over the computer network 150. Instill other implementations, the media hub(s) 140 may be programmed withsome of the functionalities of the offer management system 160, and viceversa. In this regard, the functionalities (e.g., remote deviceself-configuration, peer configuration management, mobile deviceidentification system, and cross-channel shopper targeting system)attributed herein to either the media hub(s) 140 and the offermanagement system 160 are not limiting, as each may be programmed withsome or all of the functionality attributed to the other, or to othersystem components, as would be appreciated.

One or more of the system components of mobile marketing environment100A may operate to provide targeted offers to the first customerdevice(s) 125 and/or the second customer device(s) 130. In someimplementations, the administrator 120 may unpackage, and/or place themedia hub(s) 140 near the point of sale terminal(s) 135. Theadministrator 120 may configure the media hub(s) 140 to access thecomputer network 150. Once configured to access the computer network150, the media hub(s) 140 may connect to the offer management system160, and ask the offer management system 160 to provide installationsand/or configuration data for the media hub(s) 140.

In some implementations, the offer management system 160 obtains deviceinformation (serial numbers, Media Access Control (MAC) addresses,Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, etc.) from the media hub(s) 140. Theoffer management system 160 may store the device information for lateruse and/or operation. The offer management system 160 may furtherrequest the administrator 120 specify a location of each of the mediahub(s) 140 in the facility 170. In various implementations, theadministrator 120 may specify, e.g., a lane number, physicalcoordinates, the identifier of the point of sale terminal(s) 135 nearthe media hub(s) 140, etc. The offer management system 160 may registerthe device information and/or the location of the media hub(s) 140. Theoffer management system 160 may further provide the media hub(s) 140with datastores that store information related to targeted offers,configurations, and/or customer behavior that is to be monitored.

According to an implementation of the invention, the offer managementsystem 160 may further create logical groups of the media hub(s) 140.The logical groups may arrange the media hub(s) 140 into varioustopologies, e.g., star topologies, master-slave topologies, etc. Eachlogical group may provide targeted offers to customer devices in thefacility 170. The logical group of devices may share attributes, such asportions of network addresses and/or subnets. In some implementations,the logical group of devices has a name that identifies the group to thecustomer devices (e.g., the first customer device 125 and the secondcustomer device 130) and/or the administrator device 145. In someimplementations, when one of the media hub(s) 140 in a logical groupfails, other ones of the media hub(s) 140 may continue to communicatewith customer devices that the failed media hub(s) 140 was previouslycommunicating with.

Once configured, the media hub(s) 140 may monitor attributes (locations,device identifiers, etc.) of the first customer device(s) 125 and/or thesecond customer device(s) 130. In some implementations, customers lineup in the facility 170 to purchase items. As an example, the firstcustomer 105 and the second customer 110 may enter into the queue 175.As noted herein, spacing between the first customer 105 and the secondcustomer 110 may depend on the layout of the facility 170, and can varyfrom several feet in facilities that do not afford the first customer105 much privacy regarding purchases to several yards in facilities thatafford the first customer 105 more privacy regarding purchases.

In one implementation, the offer management system 160 may recognizespecific customers based on properties of each of the customer devices.As an example, the offer management system 160 may recognize that agroup of customer devices are moving through the facility together. Theoffer management system 160 may instruct the media hub(s) 140 to obtaindevice identifiers for those customer devices. The offer managementsystem 160 may further evaluate whether one of those customer devicesare associated with a known customer. If so, the offer management system160 may, in some implementations, associate all of those devices withthe known customer so that targeted offers can be targeted to the knowncustomer using all of those customer devices.

In some implementations, the offer management system 160 may configurethe media hub(s) 140 to enroll new customers to target for targetedoffers. More specifically, the offer management system 160 may determinethat attributes of a customer and/or customer device have not beenpreviously received. In those circumstances, the offer management system160 may instruct the media hub(s) 140 to print a barcode, QR code, etc.to provide to the unknown customer(s). As an example, the barcode, QRcode, etc. may be printed along with a paper receipt printed by thepoint of sale terminal(s) 135. Once scanned, the barcode, QR code, etc.may direct the unknown customer to a mobile application managed by theoffer management system 160. The mobile application may instruct theunknown customer to enroll with the offer management system 160. It isnoted the example of a paper barcode, QR code, etc. is by way of exampleonly, and that in various implementations, the offer management system160 provides the unknown customer with an electronic link (e.g., throughtext message or in a mobile application) to enroll with the offermanagement system 160.

The media hub(s) 140 may provide specific targeted offers to customers.As noted, the targeted offers may be targeted to customers based on thelocation of the customers and/or past behavior (past purchases, pasthistories, etc.) of the customers. In some implementations, the mediahub(s) 140 interfaces with a mobile application on the customer devices(e.g., the first customer device(s) 125 and/or the second customerdevice(s) 130), and presents targeted offers in the mobile application.The media hub(s) 140 (and/or the offer management system 160) mayfurther instruct the point of sale management system 155 to directreceipts related to purchases to the mobile application on the customerdevice(s). Advantages to directing receipts to the mobile applicationinclude ensuring the receipts are secure from third-parties, such asemail providers that crawl emails of account holders.

According to an implementation of the invention, mobile marketingenvironment 100B of FIG. 1B includes the cashier 115, the administrator120, the media hub device 140, the administrator device 145, thecomputer network 150, and the offer management system 160. In thisimplementation, the media hub device 140 may include a dedicated offerplatform module 141, which in turn may include a dedicated offerplatform application 142. The dedicated offer platform module 141 mayinclude an operating system, drivers, etc. needed to support the mediahub device 140 on a distinct motherboard. The dedicated offer platformapplication 142 may include an application, processes, etc. to performthe functionalities described herein. The administrator device 145 mayinclude a browser 146, from which the administrator 120 may take actionsdescribed herein.

The offer management system 160 may include a retailer website module161, a first web services module 162, a second web services module 163,a new store setup datastore 164, and an existing store database 165. Thefirst web services module 162 may allow new stores to be set up fordedicated offer support services. The first web services module 162 maystore and/or gather relevant data in the new store setup datastore 164.The second web services module 163 may allow already enrolled stores touse dedicated offer support services. The second web services module 163may store and/or gather relevant data in the existing store database165.

FIG. 1C is an exemplary depiction of mobile marketing environment 100 cwhich may include retailers 105 c, manufacturers 110 c, cloud serviceproviders 115 c, and email service providers 120 c. In variousimplementations, the elements of the mobile marketing environment 100Cmay operate to provide targeted offers to a customer.

Offer Management System

FIG. 2 is an exemplary depiction of an offer management system 160. Asnoted above, in various implementations, the functionalities of theoffer management system 160 and the media hub(s) 140 may be incorporatedinto a single device. In still other implementations, the offermanagement system 160 may be programmed with some of the functionalitiesof the media hub(s) 140, and vice versa. In this regard, thefunctionalities attributed herein to the offer management system 160 andthe media hub(s) 140 are not limiting, as each may be programmed withsome or all of the functionality attributed to the other, or to othersystem components, as would be appreciated.

In the non-limiting depiction of FIG. 2, the offer management system 160includes an installation management engine 205, an offer deviceconfiguration engine 210, a customer identification management engine215, a mobile application management engine 220, an offer deviceconfiguration datastore 225, a customer identification datastore 230, aremote offer datastore 235, and/or other components.

The installation management engine 205 may be configured to provideinstallation settings related to media hub(s) 140. More specifically,the installation management engine 205 may be configured to identifyproperties (device identifiers, locations such as lane numbers, etc.) ofnew media hub(s) 140 that are to be installed. In some implementations,the installation management engine 205 provides the administrator device145 with user interface elements (e.g., Graphical User Interface (GUI)elements) that guide the administrator 120 through installing one of themedia hub(s) 140. The installation management engine 205 may furtherstore portions of identified properties of media hub(s) 140 asconfiguration data in the offer device configuration datastore 225. Insome implementations, the installation management engine 205 gatherssets of targeted offers from the remote offer datastore 235, and loadsthe sets of targeted offers onto the media hub(s) 140.

The offer device configuration engine 210 may be configured to manageconfigurations of the media hub(s) 140. More specifically, the offerdevice configuration engine 210 may monitor configurations of the mediahub(s) 140 and determine whether these configurations are in accordancewith appropriate configuration data in the offer device configurationdatastore 225. In some implementations, the offer device configurationengine 210 manages logical groups of media hub(s) 140. For example, theoffer device configuration engine 210 may instruct one or more of themedia hub(s) 140 to be configured to take the place of another of themedia hub(s) 140 if the other media hub(s) 140 has been incorrectlyconfigured, disconnected from the computer network 150, or powered down.

The customer identification management engine 215 may be configured toidentify customers based on customer identification data. In someimplementations, the customer identification management engine 215gathers customer identification data from the customer identificationdatastore 230, such as information related to customers' backgrounds,past purchases, locations, and specific customer devices associated withknown customers. The customer identification management engine 215 mayfurther be configured to select specific properties of customeridentification data that can form the basis of customer identification.In an implementation, the customer identification management engine 215statistically analyzes the customer identification data for factors thatcan be correlated with customer identification. For example, thecustomer identification management engine 215 may implement a histogramthat correlates customer identification data with customer identities.In some implementations, the customer identification management engine215 may discover shopper identities from multiple channels and pair upthese identities by identifying coinciding time slots and/or coincidinglocations over multiple visits.

In some implementations, the customer identification management engine215 implements identity filters that remove information that may lowercorrelations between customer devices and customer identities. Examplesof the types of information that may be filtered include false positivesdue to counter and/or loyalty cards, false positives due to residentdevices that are not used by a specific customer or are near thespecific customer but not used by the specific customer, and falsepositives due to customer devices that vacillate between being in-rangeof the media hub(s) 140 and out-of-range of the media hub(s) 140. Invarious implementations, the customer identification management engine215 may further consider how recent customer devices were observed whenimplementing the identity filters.

The mobile application management engine 220 may be configured to managea mobile application on the customer devices (e.g., one or more of thefirst customer device(s) 125 and the second customer device(s) 130).More specifically, the mobile application management engine 220 mayinstall a mobile application on customer devices, create secureconnections to a mobile application on customer devices and/or managesecure connections to a mobile application on customer devices. Themobile application management engine 220 may further manage customeraccount settings, network configuration data, and/or other settings ofthe mobile application on the customer devices.

The offer device configuration datastore 225 may store configurationdata related to the media hub(s) 140. In various implementations, theconfiguration data in the offer device configuration datastore 225includes device identifiers of media hub(s) 140 that have been installedin various facilities. The configuration data may further includelocation(s) of media hub(s) 140, specific facilities in which mediahub(s) 140 have been installed, and point of sale terminals nearspecific media hub(s) 140. In some implementations, the configurationdata includes logical groups to which specific dedicated network offerterminal(s) 140 have been associated.

The customer identification datastore 230 may store customeridentification data related to the behavior of specific customers.Customer identification data may include information related tocustomers' backgrounds, past purchases, locations, and specific customerdevices associated with known customers. The customer identificationdata may have been based on information from loyalty or rewards programsused for past purchases and/or information from known customer devicesthat have been associated with past purchases. As discussed herein, thecustomer identification data may assist in creating a histogram thatallows the customer identification management engine 215 to identify thecustomer devices a specific customer may or may not be using.

The remote offer datastore 235 may store a master set of targeted offerdata. The master set of targeted offer data may include data related totargeted offers for a variety of merchants, facilities, industries, etc.The master set of targeted offer data may include data related totargeted offers that are loaded onto a variety of media hub(s) 140 inresponse to initialization and/or configuration of the media hub(s) 140.The remote offer datastore 235 may be updated periodically, uponspecified events, etc.

The offer management system 160 may operate to configure and/or managethe media hub(s) 140 to provide customer devices with targeted offers.In some implementations, the installation management engine 205 receivesinstructions from the administrator device 145 to install the mediahub(s) 140 in the facility 170. The installation management engine 205may receive a device identifier of specific media hub(s) 140 that are tobe installed in the facility. The installation management engine 205 mayfurther receive a location (e.g., a lane number, physical coordinates,the identifier of the point of sale terminal(s) 135 near the mediahub(s) 140, etc.) of the specific media hub(s) 140 that are to beinstalled in the facility. The installation management engine 205 mayfurther obtain from the offer device configuration datastore 225configuration data for the specific media hub(s) 140 and may provide theconfiguration data to the specific media hub(s) 140.

The offer device configuration engine 210 may manage configurations ofthe media hub(s) 140. More specifically, the offer device configurationengine 210 may monitor configurations of the media hub(s) 140 todetermine whether configurations are in line with the configuration datain the offer device configuration datastore 225. The offer deviceconfiguration engine 210 may further identify whether targeted offers inthe remote offer datastore 235 have been updated, and if so, may pushupdated targeted offers to the media hub(s) 140.

In some implementations, the offer device configuration engine 210manages logical groups of the media hub(s) 140. As an example, the offerdevice configuration engine 210 may create, modify, etc. configurationdata of the media hub(s) 140 so that the media hub(s) 140 can beorganized into logical groups. The offer device configuration engine 210may further update configurations of the media hub(s) 140 if a member ofa logical group fails or is brought offline. As an example, the offerdevice configuration engine 210 may configure another member of alogical group with the configuration data of a failed member of alogical group. Such processes may ensure automated replication of failedmedia hub(s) 140 configurations to replacement devices.

The customer identification management engine 215 may operate toidentify specific customers based on customer behavior. In someimplementations, the customer identification management engine 215retrieves customer identification data from the customer identificationdatastore 230. The customer identification management engine 215 mayfurther correlate customer behavior with the identities of specificcustomers. As an example the customer identification management engine215 may retrieve device identifiers of a plurality of devices known tobe associated with a specific customer. The customer identificationmanagement engine 215 may further create a statistical model (e.g., ahistogram) of all devices that are likely to correlate with the specificcustomer. The customer identification management engine 215 may identifythreshold values in the statistical model (e.g., cutoffs) above whichdevices are likely to correspond with a specific customer. The customeridentification management engine 215 may further implement identityfilters to ensure the validity of the data in the statistical model. Thecustomer identification management engine 215 may provide other moduleswith the identities of specific customers and/or devices likely to becorrelated with the specific customers.

The mobile application management engine 220 may operate to manage amobile application on customer devices. In various implementations, themobile application management engine 220 manages a secure connection(e.g., an encrypted connection) between the mobile application and/orother devices, such as the point of sale terminal(s) 135 and the mediahub(s) 140. As an example, the mobile application management engine 220may receive receipts from the point of sale terminal(s) 135 and mayincorporate these receipts into an electronic format that can bedisplayed on a mobile application in the customer devices. As anotherexample, the mobile application management engine 220 may configure amobile application on customer devices to display targeted offers tocustomers. Advantageously, such a secure connection may limit theability of third party applications (e.g., third party web browsers,third party email clients, etc.) from identifying the contents ofcommunications to the mobile application.

In various implementations, the mobile application managed by the mobileapplication management engine 220 enrolls new customers for targetedoffers. More specifically, the mobile application may receive customeridentification data from a new customer who has not yet receivedtargeted offers but wants to receive targeted offers. The mobileapplication may further store the customer identification data in thecustomer identification datastore 230. The mobile application may alsocreate a new account for the new customer, and may enable the customerto receive targeted offers when the customer attempts to purchase itemsat a point of sale terminal in the future.

Media Hub

FIG. 3 is an exemplary depiction of a media hub device 140, according toan implementation of the invention. As noted above, in variousimplementations, the functionalities of the media hub(s) 140 and theoffer management system 160 may be incorporated into a single device. Instill other implementations, the media hub(s) 140 may be programmed withsome of the functionalities of the offer management system 160, and viceversa. In this regard, the functionalities attributed herein to themedia hub(s) 140 and the offer management system 160 are not limiting,as each may be programmed with some or all of the functionalityattributed to the other, or to other system components, as would beappreciated.

According to an implementation of the invention the media hub device 140may be configured in an “out-of-the-box” solution in which the media hubdevice 140, upon startup, obtains configuration data from a remotedevice, such as via an administrator device connected to the media hubdevice 140 via short-range wireless connection or an offer managementsystem connected to the media hub device 140 via a wide area network.Peer media hub device(s) 140 may be connected to one another via a localnetwork and may each be self-configured in the same manner. Each mediahub device 140 may monitor other media hub device(s) 140 on the localnetwork. Based on such monitoring, each media hub device 140 may detectthat one of the media hub device(s) 140 is offline and a new media hubdevice 140 is online. One or more of the online media hub device(s) 140may automatically configure the new media hub device 140 by transmittingconfiguration data to the newly discovered online media hub device 140.In some instances, the offline media hub device 140′s configuration datamay be transmitted to the new media hub device 140, thereby configuringthe new media hub device 140 to replace the offline media hub device140.

According to an implementation of the invention, a device, referred toherein as a “media hub” or “media hub device” may be deployed at alocation of a retail store or other facility (“deployment location” or“deployed location”). For example, a media hub device 140 may bedeployed in each check-out lane (or other checkout area or station) of aretail store, and may be configured to perform various functionsassociated with other in-store devices (e.g., other media hubs 140 innearby check-out lanes, or other system components), as well asfunctions associated with a customer's activities in a retail store, asdescribed in greater detail herein.

According to an implementation of the invention, a given media hubdevice 140 may be “self-configuring” in that it requires minimal to nomanual configuration by a user to become operational (i.e., perform thevarious functions described herein), may be automatically configured byan already operational peer media hub device 140 with minimal to nomanual configuration by a user, and/or may automatically update itsconfiguration data without user intervention.

According to an implementation of the invention, one or more media hubs140 may each configure itself during an initial setup of a retail storeor other location. For example, a retailer (e.g., an administrator ofthe retailer) associated with a retail store may register to use thesystem. During such registration (or thereafter), the retailer mayselect various media, including general media and retailer-specificmedia, to provide through its media hubs 140. The retailer may alsoprovide various rules, configuration data, threshold values, and/orother information described herein relating to its media hubs 140. Thesystem may store the foregoing information so that media hubs 140associated with the retailer may be configured automatically based onthe information provided by the retailer. For example, a media hubdevice 140 of a retailer may obtain a network address of an offermanagement system and, when connected to a network (e.g., a WiFi networkof a retail store), communicate with the offer management system via thenetwork using the network address. The network address may be obtainedfrom a pre-stored memory of the media hub device 140 or may be obtainedfrom an administrator device that is used to perform an initial setup ofthe retail store. The offer management system may provide (and the mediahub device 140 may receive), configuration data used to configure themedia hub device 140. Such configuration data may include configurationdata that was previously provided by the retailer (e.g., duringregistration of the retailer to use the system or thereafter). The mediahub device 140 may configure itself using the configuration data tobecome operational.

According to an implementation of the invention, when an initial setupof a retail store or other location has been completed, and a group ofmedia hubs 140 have been initially configured, during operation, eachmedia hub device 140 may monitor a status of other media hubs 140 in thegroup. If a media hub device 140 detects or otherwise discovers a newmedia hub device 140 (e.g., one that was not previously known), then themedia hub device 140 may provide configuration data for the newlydetected media hub device 140. The newly detected media hub device 140may use such configuration data to become operational.

According to an implementation of the invention, a media hub device 140may detect that another previously known media hub device 140 in thegroup has no longer been detected for a threshold period of time. Eitherbefore or after the previously known media hub device 140 in the grouphas no longer been detected, the media hub device 140 may detect a newmedia hub device 140 and may assume that the new media hub device 140should replace the previously known media hub device 140. As such, themedia hub device 140 may provide the configuration data relating to thepreviously known media hub device 140 to the new media hub device 140such that the new media hub device 140 is able to replace the previouslyknown media hub device 140.

According to an implementation of the invention, to prevent multiplemedia hubs 140 in the group from configuring the new media hub device140, each media hub device 140 may configure other media hubs 140 inaccordance with a peer configuration rule or trigger (e.g., a rule thatassigns peer(s) to a media hub device 140 with which the media hubdevice 140 is responsible to configure, a first-to-detect rule in whicha media hub device 140 that first detects that a replacement shouldoccur is responsible for configuring the new media hub device 140, anexplicit indication from an administrator for one media hub device 140to configure another media hub device 140, etc.).

According to an implementation of the invention, multiple media hubs 140may automatically configure a newly detected media hub device 140 in acooperative, centralized or decentralized peer-to-peer, fashion. Inthese instances, the new media hub device 140 may obtain variousportions of its configuration data from multiple peer media hubs 140.For example, a first portion of the configuration data may be obtainedfrom a first peer media hub device 140 and a second portion of theconfiguration data may be obtained from a second peer media hub device140. The new media hub device 140 may then generate the fullconfiguration data based on the first and second portions. Of course,the foregoing requires that the first and second peer media hubs 140each have a copy (or at least portions) of the same configuration dataintended for the new media hub device 140. The first peer media hubdevice 140, the second peer media hub device 140, other peer media hubs140 participating in the peer-to-peer configuration operation, or thenew media hub device 140 may act as a central controller thatcoordinates which peer media hub device 140 is to provide particularportions of the configuration data intended for the new media hub device140. In the peer-to-peer model, a given media hub device 140 may provideat least a portion of the configuration data (e.g., the configurationdata of a media hub device 140 to be replaced) to the new media hubdevice 140.

According to an implementation of the invention, upon determining that apeer media hub device 140 is missing from the known peer media hubdevice(s) 140, a media hub device 140 may transmit an alert to a remotesystem indicating that the second media hub device 140 has not beendetected. The remote system may include an offer management system or anadministrator device.

A media hub device 140 may comprise its own motherboard with one or morededicated processors, memory, buses, peripherals, etc. A media hubdevice 140 may have its own operating system that runs processes,applications, etc., and may serve as an in-lane platform that canperform the functionality set forth herein along with futurefunctionality. The media hub device 140 may comprise one or moreself-configuring wireless device(s) to reduce the need for manual set-upor configuration.

In one implementation of the invention, the media hub device 140 maycomprise a stand-alone device that may be connected directly orwirelessly to an (in-store) in-lane printer or other system component.

Alternatively, the media hub device 140 may comprise a component ofanother device located at the POS such as, for example, a printer. Inone implementation, for instance, the media hub device 140 may comprisea wireless printer that includes a printer control component and aseparate controller (or other components) that enable the identifiedfeatures and functions of the media hub device 140. Other configurationsmay be implemented. One advantage of the wireless printer is that itavoids the need for cables to connect the printer to an in-store server.Another advantage is the ability to make the printers self-configuringas described herein. Additionally, the media hub device 140 may beupdated (e.g., new functionality and or applications added) wirelesslyand/or remotely.

According to an implementation of the invention, media hub device 140(s)may be coupled to a local network (e.g., a local area network, awireless network, a cellular data network, etc.) in a retail facility.The network may track locations of customers in the facility (e.g., bytracking the locations of the customers' devices). Variouslocation-based services may be implemented as a result of thisconfiguration.

In one implementation of the invention, the media hub device 140 may becontrolled or otherwise be configured by an offer management system. Theoffer management system may be coupled to the various media hubs 140 ina retail facility over a network connection, such as the local networkin the retail facility, or a larger network, such as an extranet or theInternet. The offer management system may support various features ofthe media hubs 140, including installation and/or configuration of themedia hubs 140. As an example, the offer management system may manageinstallation of media hubs 140 when the media hubs 140 are initiallypowered on or on-boarded to the local network, as previously described.As another example, the offer management system may manage configurationof one or more of the media hubs 140 when those media hubs 140 arepowered-down or off-boarded from the local network.

Once configured, a media hub device 140 may be operable to performvarious functions associated with a customer's activities in a retailstore including, but not limited to, a customer checking out at acheckout lane in a retail store. The media hub device 140 may attempt toidentify a customer in a checkout lane in a variety of ways (describedin detail below). The media hub device 140 may, for instance, detect thepresence of a digital device (e.g., a smartphone or other mobile device)associated with the customer.

The media hub device 140 may be used to identify customers or at leastrecognize a person as the same customer even if the actual customer'sidentity is not known. For example, if a customer has provided loyaltycard information during a checkout, and the media hub device 140identifies data associated with the customer device (e.g., a deviceidentifier or other identifier), this data may be stored as part of auser profile in a database (along with, for example, transaction historyinformation and other profile information) accessible by the media hubdevice 140. On a subsequent visit, if a media hub device 140 detects thecustomer device, the customer may be identified (and loyalty accountdata retrieved) even if the customer does not have, or does not enter,their loyalty number. In this manner, targeted offers and othercustomer-specific services may be provided. Similarly, paymentinformation, user-entered identification information, and otherinformation can be linked and stored in a user profile and used in asimilar way. In some instances, even if a customer does not have aloyalty card (e.g., has not signed up for a loyalty account), a mediahub device 140 may store identifying information for the customer devicein association with transaction information such as purchases made. Inthis manner, the media hub device 140 may target media such as offers tothe customer based on detection of the customer's device in subsequentvisits based on purchases made while the customer's device was detectedduring previous visits.

According to an implementation of the invention, a media hub device 140may passively monitor customer devices (used interchangeably hereinthroughout, along with singular forms, with “user devices”) by scanninga wireless communication channel and obtaining device identificationinformation transmitted by a user device that communicates the deviceidentification information via the wireless communication channel. Suchuser devices may communicate their device identification information inassociation with discovery or local network logon processes. Forexample, a user device may broadcast its device identificationinformation via a Bluetooth channel to make itself discoverable to otherBluetooth-enabled devices or may provide a wireless router with itsdevice identification information in association with a request toconnect to the router.

A media hub device 140 may identify user devices through such passivemonitoring and provide targeted media to the user devices, whetherthrough in-channel transmission (e.g., the same communication channelthrough which a user device was monitored such as a directBluetooth-based download/upload) or shifted channel transmission (e.g.,a different communication channel than the channel from which the userdevice was monitored such as an electronic mail or user interfacegraphic transmitted via a wide area or public network).

The media hub device 140 may be used to identify users or at leastrecognize a person as the same user even if the actual user's identityis not known. For example, if a user has provided loyalty cardinformation during a checkout, and the media hub identifies dataassociated with the user device (e.g., a device identifier or otheridentifier), this data may be stored as part of a user profile in adatabase (along with, for example, transaction history information andother profile information) accessible by the media hub device. On asubsequent visit, if a media hub detects the user device, the user maybe identified (and loyalty account data retrieved) even if the user doesnot have, or does not enter, their loyalty number. In this manner,targeted offers and other user-specific services may be provided.Similarly, payment information, user-entered identification information,and other information can be linked and stored in a user profile andused in a similar way. According to an implementation of the invention,even if a user does not have a loyalty card (e.g., has not signed up fora loyalty account), a media hub may store identifying information forthe user device in association with transaction information such aspurchases made. In this manner, the media hub may target media such asoffers to the user based on detection of the user's device in subsequentvisits based on purchases made while the user's device was detectedduring previous visits.

Based on the discovered association between the user device and a user,the system facilitates user activity monitoring and media targeting andtransmission in-store (e.g., before, during, and immediately after atransaction) and out-of-store (e.g., while online on the Internet). Assuch, through such passive monitoring by media hub device(s) 140, acomprehensive view of a user's online activity and offline activity(e.g., in-store shopping) may be obtained and used to target media basedon the user's online and/or offline activity.

For implementations in which a media hub device 140 is deployed near orwith point of sale terminals of a retail store, the media hub device 140may be able to discern whether a user device is associated with apending transaction that has been already initiated (e.g., at a point ofsale associated with the media hub device 140), or is associated with atransaction waiting to be initiated. For example, a first user deviceand a second user device may be discovered by the media hub device 140via the wireless communication channel. The first user device may becarried by a first user who is currently checking out (or is beingchecked out) at the point of sale terminal. The second user device maybe carried by a second user who is waiting to checkout (e.g., is in lineto checkout). Different targeted media may be provided depending onwhether a transaction is currently pending or is waiting to beinitiated. For example, at least some of the current items in thecurrent transaction may be used to target media to a user deviceassociated with a user who is currently being checked out.

The media hub device 140 may distinguish the two devices in variousways. For example, the media hub device 140 may distinguish the twodevices based on signal strength indications. In these instances, thefirst user device may be closer in proximity and therefore be associatedwith a stronger signal strength than the second user device. As such,the media hub device 140 may determine that the second user device iscarried by the second user who is waiting in line. In another example, apending transaction may be associated with a user identification (e.g.,a loyalty card, payment card, etc.). The user identification may be usedto lookup device identification information associated with the useridentification. As such, because the user identification is being usedin the pending transaction, the media hub device 140 may determine thatthe first user device is associated with the user identification, whichis being used in the pending transaction.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device140 is embedded with or includes a point of sale printer associated witha point of sale terminal. The media hub device 140 may determine that atransaction at the point of sale terminal is pending and transmittargeted the media to the first user device while the transaction ispending. In this manner, a user may receive targeted media while waitingfor the transaction to be complete.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device140 may determine that the transaction is complete. For example, themedia hub device 140 may receive an end of transaction signal from thepoint of sale terminal and/or may receive an instruction to beginprinting a physical receipt. In response, the media hub device 140 mayprint a physical receipt that documents the transaction. Alternativelyor additionally, the media hub device 140 may transmit an electronicreceipt to the first user device. According to an implementation of theinvention, the media hub device 140 may identify targeted media afterthe transaction is complete. For example, the targeted media may beidentified based on items associated with the transaction and/or otheruser behavior. The media hub device 140 may transmit such targeted mediaupon completion of the transaction. The media hub device 140 maytransmit such targeted media upon embedded or in association with anelectronic receipt that documents the transaction. According to animplementation of the invention, the media hub device 140 may print(e.g., on a physical receipt) the targeted media, which may be formattedappropriately for printing.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device140 may store the transaction information in association withidentification information that identifies the first user device. Inthis manner, purchase activity associated with the first user device maybe stored for later retrieval (and subsequent targeting).

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device140 may determine whether or not identification information thatidentifies a monitored user device is associated with a customeridentification (such as a loyalty identifier, credit card number, etc.).If so, the media hub device 140 may target media based on customerbehavior information known about the user identified by the customeridentification. If not, the media hub device 140 may attempt to identifythe customer associated with (e.g., carries) the user device based ontechniques described herein.

According to an implementation of the invention, whether or not the userhas accepted an invitation to install a client application, the mediahub device 140 may store the transaction information relating to thepending transaction in association with the device identificationinformation of the monitored device. In this manner, customer behaviorfor users who do not download the client application may still bemonitored based on passively monitored device identification information(assuming the customer carries the associated user device when the useris at the deployed location).

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device140 may obtain a customer identification. For example, the customeridentification may be scanned or otherwise read at a point of saleterminal, to which the media hub device 140 is communicably coupled (viawired or wireless connection). The media hub device 140 may store thecustomer identification in association with the device identificationinformation. In this manner, an identity of a user may be determinedduring subsequent visits based on a passively monitored deviceidentification information (again, assuming the customer carries theassociated user device when the user is at the deployed location).Accordingly, a user may be deemed to be located within the deployedlocation even if the user has not yet provided a customer identificationor other means of identification.

According to an implementation of the invention, the association betweenthe user device and the customer identification may be transmitted to anoffer management system. The offer management system may monitor auser's online activity using the user device (e.g., activity while notat the deployed location such as making online purchases or Internethistories), and may store such online activity in association with thecustomer identification. The customer identification may be anonymizedas appropriate to protect any personally identifying information (to theextent required and/or to the extent that the user has not opted-in forthe system to use such information). In this manner, both online andoffline activity of a user may be monitored by the system based onpassively monitored user devices by media hub device(s) 140 deployed atparticular locations. It should be noted that the various targeted mediadescribed herein may be identified based on online activity (as usedherein, the term “activity” may be used interchangeably throughout with“behavior”) and/or offline activity. Furthermore, such targeted mediamay be provided to the user while the user is waiting in line at a pointof sale for a transaction to be initiated, during the transaction, uponcompletion of the transaction, while the user is online, or while theuser is not at the deployed location.

According to an implementation of the invention, the media hub device140 may determine whether a customer has already downloaded a clientapplication such as a predetermined mobile application (e.g., a loyaltyapplication associated with the retailer or other entity, or otherapplication). If it is determined that a customer has not alreadydownloaded a predetermined mobile application, the media hub device 140may incent or otherwise prompt the customer to download the application.As a non-limiting example, the media hub device 140 may be in operativecommunication with an in-lane printer so as to cause the in-lane printerto print a message on a POS receipt at the conclusion of a transaction.The message may include a QR code or other message to prompt thecustomer to perform the download. An incentive may also be provided tothe customer as desired. Optionally, upon download of the mobileapplication, the customer may be prompted to enter customeridentification information (e.g., loyalty card information, mobilenumber, device identifier and/or other customer identificationinformation). A user profile may be updated upon detection that the userhas downloaded the mobile application. This status indicator may be usedduring subsequent visits to enable the media hub device 140 tocommunicate directly with the known customer's mobile device asdescribed herein. By way of example, the media hub device 140 may beused to detect the presence of the customer device and read user ordevice identification data (or other identifier) and compare it withpreviously stored information to identify the customer and/orcustomer-related information.

Additionally, the media hub device 140 may be used to transmit offersdirectly to a customer device. This action may be occur in lieu of (orin addition to) printing offers on a receipt. The media hub device 140may be configured to make and deliver offer determinations in-lane atthe time of checkout. This is a significant advantage over many systemswhere offers are created and managed at a remote offer management system(often under control of a third party), or by an in-store server locatedremote from the checkout lanes. The media hub device 140 may accessand/or receive data from the POS terminal (e.g., to obtain real-timedata regarding items that a customer is purchasing). The media hubdevice 140 may also receive information from a remote offer managementsystem (in batch and/or real-time), and/or an in-store server. Thisinformation may be used to generate real-time, targeted offers, whichcan be delivered to the customer via a printed receipt, via directcommunication to the customer device, or both.

In the non-limiting depiction of FIG. 3, the media hub device 140includes a configuration engine 306, a location management engine 310, anetwork interface engine 315, a print management engine 320, a targetedoffer management engine 325, a configuration data datastore 330, acustomer behavior datastore 335, and a local offer datastore 340.

The configuration engine 305 may be configured to support installationand/or configuration of the media hub device 140. In someimplementations, the configuration engine 305 supports interfaces withthe administrator device 145 and/or the offer management system 160. Theconfiguration engine 305 may support installation processes that loadconfiguration data from the offer management system 160 or other sourceof configuration data (e.g., a peer media hub, as described herein) intothe configuration data datastore 330.

The configuration data may include, without limitation, a locationwithin a retail store at which a media hub to which the configurationdata relates is deployed (e.g., a lane number when the media hub isconfigured as a printer or other device at a point of sale, an aislenumber or department name when the media hub is configured as a kiosk orother device at various locations in a retail store, etc.), a networkaddress (e.g., a URL or IP address) or identifier of offer managementsystem 160 or other source of configuration data, one or more targetingrules for identifying media such as targeted offers to provide tocustomers, various threshold and default values described herein, one ormore peer rules described herein, a communication interval thatspecifies when the media hub should contact offer management system 160or other remote device for updates to configuration or other data (forinstances when such updates are to be pulled by a media hub), a retailername or store at which the media hub is deployed, an alert contact atwhich to provide alerts described herein, printer configuration settingsfor implementations in which a media hub is embedded within or operatesin association with a printer device (e.g., retail store information tobe print such as hours and address, receipt or other print formattingsuch as text fonts, text sizes, graphics, etc.), and/or other data usedby the media hub for initial configuration, updates, and/or operation.

The configuration engine 305 may also load targeted offer data from theoffer management system 160 into the local offer datastore 340. Invarious implementations, the configuration engine 305 receivesinstructions from the offer management system 160 to configure the mediahub device 140 as part of a logical group of media hubs. Theconfiguration engine 305 may appropriately configure the media hubdevice 140 in response to such instructions.

In some implementations, the configuration engine 305 may maintain alist of peer media hub(s) 140. A media hub may be a “peer” of anothermedia hub when both media hubs are within the same logical grouping ofmedia hubs, are part of a network of devices that communicate viashort-range (e.g., generally less than 100 meter range, such as theBluetooth protocol) wireless communication, are part of a network ofdevices (e.g., a local area network of a retail store at which the mediahubs are deployed) that are connected together via a network switchand/or communicate with each other via a network router device, and/orare otherwise expressly designated as peers. Generally, although notnecessarily, peer media hubs are each deployed within a retail store.

Configuration engine 305 may obtain the list of peer media hubs invarious ways. For example, upon initial configuration of a media hubdevice 140, configuration engine 305 may obtain a listing of other mediahubs to be deployed at a given retail store from offer management system160 or administrator device 145. These media hubs may be stored as peermedia hubs. In another example, upon initial configuration of a mediahub device 140, the media hub may enter an initialization phase (theduration of which may be predefined in its configuration data) duringwhich nearby media hubs are discovered and automatically stored as apeer media hub. Peer media hubs may be discovered by sending, via thenetwork that connects the peers, a peer identification request, to whichpeer media hubs respond with their identification, configuration data,and/or other information. In some instances, peer media hubs may bediscovered based on media hubs that are connected to a network (e.g.,devices connected through a router or access point having identifiers orother information that indicates that the devices are media hubs).

Regardless of the manner in which a list of peer media hubs is obtained,in some instances, configuration engine 305 may store, in configurationdata datastore 330, configuration data for each peer media hub. In theseinstances, each media hub may store the configuration data for itselfand configuration data for each of its peer media hubs. Configurationengine 305 may use the configuration data for a given peer media hub toconfigure a new media hub using the configuration data for the replacedmedia hub. In this manner, the configuration engine 305 of a given mediahub device 140 may, in effect, replace a peer media hub device 140 witha newly discovered media hub.

In some instances, to prevent multiple media hubs in the group fromconfiguring the new media hub, each media hub (e.g., via itsconfiguration engine 305) may configure other media hubs in accordancewith a peer configuration rule or trigger (e.g., a rule that assignspeer(s) to a media hub with which the media hub is responsible toconfigure, a first-to-detect rule in which a media hub that firstdetects that a replacement should occur is responsible for configuringthe new media hub, an explicit indication from an administrator for onemedia hub to configure another media hub, etc.).

In other instances, multiple media hubs may automatically configure anewly detected media hub in a cooperative, centralized or decentralizedpeer-to-peer, fashion. In these instances, the new media hub may obtainvarious portions of its configuration data from multiple peer mediahubs. For example, a first portion of the configuration data may beobtained from a first peer media hub and a second portion of theconfiguration data may be obtained from a second peer media hub. The newmedia hub may then generate the full configuration data based on thefirst and second portions. Of course, the foregoing requires that thefirst and second peer media hubs each have a copy (or at least portions)of the same configuration data intended for the new media hub. In thepeer-to-peer model, a given media hub may provide at least a portion ofthe configuration data (e.g., the configuration data of a media hub tobe replaced) to the new media hub.

In this manner, when a media hub is placed offline (whetherintentionally for service or unintentionally due to failure), areplacement media hub need only be powered on and connected to thenetwork of media hubs to obtain configuration data for the media hubthat is taken offline. As such, the replace media hub may have beconfigured in the same manner as the media hub that is offline (e.g.,may be configured with the same lane or other location information), andmay resume operations of that media hub.

The location management engine 310 may be configured to track locationsof customer devices in the facility 170. In various implementations, thelocation management engine 310 may include BLE hardware and/or softwareand/or GPS hardware and/or software in order to identify positions ofcustomer devices. The BLE hardware may be implemented as a BLE beaconthat identifies locations of a customer device based on signalproperties (Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), etc.) of signalsbetween the customer device and the BLE beacon, or other techniques. Invarious implementations, the location management engine 310 updatescustomer behavior data based on identified locations of customerdevices.

The network interface engine 315 may be configured to send data to andreceive data from the computer network 150. In some implementations, thenetwork interface engine 315 is implemented as a wireless network cardthat supports a wireless network connection to the computer network 150.Examples of wireless network cards include wireless network cardscompatible with 802.11 protocols, 802.16 protocols, and compatible withcellular data (e.g., Third Generation (3G), Fourth Generation (4G),etc.) protocols.

The print management engine 320 may be configured to manage printinghardware on the media hub device 140. The print management engine 320may include drivers, system-level processes, etc. to instruct printinghardware to print items. In various implementations, the printmanagement engine 320 instructs printing hardware to print barcodes, QRcodes, or other items that direct customers to a website or applicationstore location that allows installation of a mobile application on acustomer device.

The targeted offer management engine 325 may select and/or providetargeted offers to customers based on customer behavior data. Thetargeted offer management engine 325 may identify a customer usingcustomer background data. In some implementations, for instance, thetargeted offer management engine 325 may call processes supported by thecustomer identification management engine 215 in the offer managementsystem 160 in order to identify a specific customer based on thespecific customer's association with known customer devices. Thetargeted offer management engine 325 may further gather other data,including data about a customer's specific background and/or pastpurchases. The targeted offer management engine 325 may also gatherinformation related to the customer's location, such as informationobtained by the location management engine 310, discussed furtherherein. Using this exemplary information, the targeted offer managementengine 325 may select targeted offers for the customers. In variousimplementations, the targeted offer management engine 325 provides thetargeted offers to a mobile application in customer devices associatedwith the specific customer.

The configuration data datastore 330 may store configuration datarelated to the media hub device 140. In specific implementations, theconfiguration data datastore 330 stores one or more of: the location themedia hub device 140 has been installed inside the facility 170, anyidentifiers of point of sale terminal(s) 135 associated with the mediahub device 140, and network access parameters (e.g., wireless networkauthentication parameters, etc.) of the media hub device 140. Theconfiguration data datastore 330 may further store identifiers relatedto any logical groups the media hub device 140 belongs to or hasbelonged to. In some implementations, the configuration data datastore330 is updated by the offer management system 160 as updatedconfigurations are available to the offer management system 160.

The customer behavior datastore 335 may store customer behavior datarelated to the behavior of specific customers. Customer behavior datamay include information related to customers' identities, backgrounds,past purchases, locations, and specific customer devices associated withknown customers. As discussed herein, the customer behavior data mayassist in selecting targeted offers for specific customers.

The local offer datastore 340 may store targeted offer data related totargeted offers that may be targeted to customers in the facility 170.In various implementations, the targeted offer data is indexed byparameters related to customer behavior data. For example, each item oftargeted offer data in the local offer datastore 340 may be indexed byspecific backgrounds, past purchases, locations, and/or customer devicesthat may apply to the targeted offer.

The structures in the media hub device 140 may operate to providetargeted offers to the first customer device(s) 125 and/or the secondcustomer device(s) 130 based on customer behavior data and locations ofthe customer devices as follows. In various implementations, thelocation management engine 310 operates to identify locations of thefirst customer device(s) 125 and/or the second customer device(s) 130 inthe facility 170. More specifically, the location management engine 310may send a location signal to the first customer device(s) 125 and/orthe second customer device(s) 130 as the first customer device(s) 125and/or the second customer device(s) 130 enter the facility 170. Thelocation signal may comprise a BLE signal from hardware managed by thelocation management engine 310. Locational hardware on the firstcustomer device(s) 125 and/or the second customer device(s) 130 mayrespond to the location signal by providing a location response signalthat contains therein relevant locations of the customer devices.

In various implementations, the targeted offer management engine 325 mayidentify whether the first customer device(s) 125 and/or the secondcustomer device(s) 130 correspond to known or unknown customers. In anexample, the first customer device(s) 125 may belong to an unknowncustomer, while the second customer device(s) 130 may belong to a knowncustomer. In such an example, the targeted offer management engine 325may direct the print management engine 320 to print a barcode, QR code,etc. The barcode, QR code, etc. may allow the first customer 105 todownload a mobile application that receives targeted offers. In thisexample, the targeted offer management engine 325 may identify customerbehavior data related to the second customer 110 (either by directlookup in the customer behavior datastore 335 or by gathering customerbehavior data from the offer management system 160).

The targeted offer management engine 325 may further select targetedoffers for the second customer 110 based on customer behavior data andbased on targeted offer data in the local offer datastore 340. Thetargeted offers may be customized based on past purchases, locations,etc. of the second customer 110. In some implementations, the targetedoffer management engine 325 identifies a channel of items the secondcustomer 110 has recently purchased or is about to purchase. Thetargeted offer management engine 325 may provide targeted offers to theidentified channel if the identified channel is deemed an appropriatemarketing channel, or may provide targeted offers to different channelsif the identified channel is deemed an inappropriate marketing channel.In various implementations, the targeted offer management engine 325provides the targeted offers to a mobile application on the secondcustomer device 130, either over the computer network 150 or byinstructions to the offer management system 160.

Media Hub Installation

FIG. 4A depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations 400A forinstalling a media hub, according to an implementation of the invention.The various processing operations and/or data flows depicted in FIG. 4Amay be accomplished using some or all of the system components (e.g.,the offer management system 160 and/or the media hub(s) 140, etc.)described in detail above and, in some implementations, variousoperations may be performed in different sequences and variousoperations may be omitted. Additional operations may be performed alongwith some or all of the operations shown in the depicted flow diagram.One or more operations may be performed simultaneously. Accordingly, theoperations as illustrated (and described in greater detail below) areexemplary by nature and, as such, should not be viewed as limiting.

At operation 405 a, the installation management engine 205 provides aninstallation page to the administrator device 145 with one or morefields, such as fields for administrator account information, deviceidentifier information related to the media hub(s) 140, and/or locationsof the media hub(s) 140. The administrator device 145 may be providedthe installation page when the administrator 120 initially connects oneof the media hub(s) 140 (e.g., when the administrator 120 initiallyunpackages one of the media hub(s) 140 and connects it to the computernetwork 150). At such a point, the administrator 120 may be directed toa website managed by the installation management engine 205.

At operation 410 a, the installation management engine 205 receives fromthe installation page a device identifier of the media hub(s) 140. Morespecifically, the installation management engine 205 may receive, e.g.,a MAC address or other unique device identifier of the media hub(s) 140.The MAC address or other unique device identifier may have been providedby the administrator 120 in the installation page or may have beeninferred from other information (e.g., inferred from information on thepackaging of the media hub(s) 140).

At operation 415 a, the installation management engine 205 receives fromthe installation page a location of the media hub(s). The location maycorrespond to a specified location in the facility 170. As an example,the location may correspond to a specific instance of the point of saleterminal(s) 135. The location may have other attributes, such as GPScoordinates, coordinates relevant to WiFi triangulation, etc.

At operation 420 a, the installation management engine 205 registers thedevice identifier and location of the media hub(s) 140. Morespecifically, the installation management engine 205 may save the deviceidentifier and the location of the media hub(s) 140 in the configurationdata datastore 330. The installation management engine 205 may also saveother information in the configuration data datastore 330, such asspecific point of sale terminal(s) 135 with which the media hub(s) 140is to be associated.

At operation 425 a, the installation management engine 205 sendsinstructions to configure the media hub(s) 140. The installationmanagement engine 205 may provide, over the computer network 150,instructions to the media hub(s) 140 to interoperate with relevant pointof sale terminal(s) 135, and to track locations of customer device(s) inthe facility 170. In various implementations, the installationmanagement engine 205 couples the media hub(s) 140 to relevant point ofsale terminal(s) 135.

At operation 430 a, the installation management engine 205 provides aset of targeted offers to be stored on a local offer datastore of themedia hub(s). More specifically, the installation management engine 205may select sets of targeted offers from targeted offer data in theremote offer datastore 235. The installation management engine 205 mayfurther provide the sets of targeted offers over the computer network150 to the media hub(s) 140. In various implementations, the mediahub(s) 140 store the sets of targeted offers locally in the local offerdatastore 340. In other implementations, the media hub(s) 140 mayreceive targeted offers from offer management system 60 in real-timeduring a customer transaction.

FIG. 4B is an exemplary depiction of a process 400B of installing amedia hub, according to an implementation of the invention. Elements 405b-435 b identify operations that may be taken in or near the facility170. The process 400B may begin at operation 405 b, where theadministrator 120 unpacks the media hub(s) 140. At operation 410 b, theadministrator 120 may place the media hub(s) 140 in a specified locationin the facility 170 (e.g., in a lane near the point of sale terminal(s)135). At operation 415 b, the administrator 120 accesses theadministrator device 135. At operation 420 b, the administrator 120directs a web browser on the administrator device 145 to a setupwebsite, such as a website maintained by the offer management system160. At operation 425 b, the offer management system 160 allows theadministrator 120 to sign the media hub(s) 140 for services that allowthe offer management system 160 to manage the media hub(s) 140. Atoperation 430 b, the administrator 120 enters device identificationinformation for the media hub(s) 140 into the web browser so that theoffer management system 160 can register the media hub(s) 140 intorelevant databases. At operation 435 b, the administrator 120 selectsother identifying information (lane number, etc.) related to the mediahub(s) 140.

Elements 440 b-465 b identify operations that may be taken by the offermanagement system 160. At operation 440 b, the offer management system160 registers the retailer/user associated with the facility 170. Atoperation 445 b, the offer management system 160 configures the mediahub(s) 140 using the techniques described herein. At operation 450 b,the offer management system 160 sends targeted offer data from theremote offer datastore 235 to the media hub(s) 140 so that the localoffer datastore 340 can be installed on the media hub(s) 140. Atoperation 455 b, the offer management system 160 sets up the facility170 for support and future communications. At operation 460 b, the offermanagement system 160 may accept Card Identification Numbers(CID)/offers, etc. from the media hub(s) 140. At operation 465 b, theoffer management system 160 provides a notification that the mediahub(s) 140 are live and able to provide targeted offers to customers.

Recovering from Failed Media Hub(s)

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations 500 forrecovery from a failed media hub, according to an implementation of theinvention. The various processing operations and/or data flows depictedin FIG. 5 may be accomplished using some or all of the system components(e.g., the offer management system 160 and/or the media hub(s) 140,etc.) described in detail above and, in some implementations, variousoperations may be performed in different sequences and variousoperations may be omitted. Additional operations may be performed alongwith some or all of the operations shown in the depicted flow diagram.One or more operations may be performed simultaneously. Accordingly, theoperations as illustrated (and described in greater detail below) areexemplary by nature and, as such, should not be viewed as limiting.

At operation 505, the offer device configuration engine 210 identifies aplurality of the media hubs 140 in a logical group in the facility 170.At operation 510, the offer device configuration engine 210 monitorseach of the plurality of media hubs for the satisfaction of a failurecondition. At operation 515, if the failure condition has been satisfiedthe offer device configuration engine 210 identifies failed media hubsthat have satisfied the failure condition. At operation 520, the offerdevice configuration engine 210 identifies point of sale terminal(s)associated with the failed media hubs. At operation 525, the offerdevice configuration engine 210 identifies working media hubs in logicalgroup near the identified point of sale terminal(s). At operation 530,the offer device configuration engine 210 associates working media hubswith identified point of sale terminal(s).

Customer Identification

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations 600 foridentifying a customer through analysis of data from a plurality ofcustomer devices, according to an implementation of the invention. Thevarious processing operations and/or data flows depicted in FIG. 6 maybe accomplished using some or all of the system components (e.g., theoffer management system 160 and/or the media hub(s) 140, etc.) describedin detail above and, in some implementations, various operations may beperformed in different sequences and various operations may be omitted.Additional operations may be performed along with some or all of theoperations shown in the depicted flow diagram. One or more operationsmay be performed simultaneously. Accordingly, the operations asillustrated (and described in greater detail below) are exemplary bynature and, as such, should not be viewed as limiting.

At operation 605, the customer identification management engine 215identifies a plurality of customer devices in a facility. At operation610, the customer identification management engine 215 identifies aproperty of the plurality of customer devices to monitor for likelihoodof customer identification. At operation 615, the customeridentification management engine 215 measures the property of each ofthe plurality of customer devices. At operation 620, the customeridentification management engine 215 incorporates the measurements intoa statistical model that correlates the plurality of customer deviceswith likelihood of association with specific customer(s). At operation625, the customer identification management engine 215 filters from thestatistical model information that may lower the likelihood ofassociation of the plurality of customer devices with the likelihood ofassociation with specific customer(s). At operation 630, the customeridentification management engine 215 uses the filtered statistical modelto provide updated probabilities of association of the plurality ofcustomer devices with likelihood of association with specificcustomer(s).

Providing Mobile Offers

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations 700 forproviding offers to a mobile application on a customer device based onproximity to a media hub and customer behavior, according to animplementation of the invention. The various processing operationsand/or data flows depicted in FIG. 7 may be accomplished using some orall of the system components (e.g., the offer management system 160and/or the media hub(s) 140, etc.) described in detail above and, insome implementations, various operations may be performed in differentsequences and various operations may be omitted. Additional operationsmay be performed along with some or all of the operations shown in thedepicted flow diagram. One or more operations may be performedsimultaneously. Accordingly, the operations as illustrated (anddescribed in greater detail below) are exemplary by nature and, as such,should not be viewed as limiting.

At operation 705, the location management engine 310 identifies customerdevice(s) in a facility. At operation 710, the location managementengine 310 provides a location signal to the identified customerdevice(s). At operation 715, the location management engine 310 receivesa location response signal from the identified customer device(s) inresponse to the location signal. At operation 720, the locationmanagement engine 310 determines a position of the identified customerdevice(s) in the facility using the location response signal. Atoperation 725, the location management engine 310 identifies, based onthe position, whether the identified customer device(s) are within aspecified range of a point of sale terminal. At operation 730, thetargeted offer management engine 325 gathers customer behavior data fromthe local offer datastore 340 for the identified customer device(s). Atoperation 735, the targeted offer management engine 325 gathers targetedoffers for the identified customer device(s) based on the customerbehavior data. At operation 740, the targeted offer management engine325 provides the targeted offers to the identified customer device(s)when the identified customer device(s) are within the specified range ofthe point of sale terminal.

Directing Customers to Marketing Channels

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations 800 fordirecting customers to a specific marketing channel based on customerbehavior, according to an implementation of the invention. The variousprocessing operations and/or data flows depicted in FIG. 8 may beaccomplished using some or all of the system components (e.g., the offermanagement system 160 and/or the media hub(s) 140, etc.) described indetail above and, in some implementations, various operations may beperformed in different sequences and various operations may be omitted.Additional operations may be performed along with some or all of theoperations shown in the depicted flow diagram. One or more operationsmay be performed simultaneously. Accordingly, the operations asillustrated (and described in greater detail below) are exemplary bynature and, as such, should not be viewed as limiting.

At operation 805, the customer identification management engine 215identifies customer(s) in a facility. At operation 810, the targetedoffer management engine 325 gathers customer behavior data for thecustomer(s). At operation 815, the mobile application management engine220 establishes a secure connection with mobile application on customerdevice(s) associated with customer(s). At operation 820, the mobileapplication management engine 220 gathers customer actions in the mobileapplication. At operation 825, the targeted offer management engine 325identifies a first marketing channel for the customer(s) based on thecustomer actions in the mobile application. At operation 830, thetargeted offer management engine 325 identifies a second marketingchannel for the customer(s) based on customer behavior data forcustomer(s). At operation 835, the mobile application management engine220 configures the mobile application on the customer device(s) todisplay the second marketing channel.

Purchase Data

FIG. 9A depicts an exemplary flowchart of processing operations 900A forproviding purchase data to a secure mobile application on a customerdevice proximate to a media hub, according to an implementation of theinvention. The various processing operations and/or data flows depictedin FIG. 9A may be accomplished using some or all of the systemcomponents (e.g., the offer management system 160 and/or the mediahub(s) 140, etc.) described in detail above and, in someimplementations, various operations may be performed in differentsequences and various operations may be omitted. Additional operationsmay be performed along with some or all of the operations shown in thedepicted flow diagram. One or more operations may be performedsimultaneously. Accordingly, the operations as illustrated (anddescribed in greater detail below) are exemplary by nature and, as such,should not be viewed as limiting.

At operation 905 a, the location management engine 310 monitorslocations of customer device(s) in a facility. At operation 910 a, thelocation management engine 310 identifies, based on the monitoredlocations, whether the customer device(s) are within a specified rangeof a point of sale terminal in the facility. At operation 915 a, thetargeted offer management engine 325 receives a confirmation of apurchase at the point of sale terminal. At operation 920 a, the mobileapplication management engine 220 establishes a secure connection to amobile application on the customer device(s). At operation 925 a, thetargeted offer management engine 325 gathers a receipt related to thepurchase. At operation 930 a, the mobile application management engine220 provides the receipt in an electronic format to the mobileapplication using the secure connection.

Providing Offers

FIG. 9B is an exemplary depiction of a process of providing offers to asecure mobile application on a customer device proximate to a media hub,according to an implementation of the invention. The system diagramincludes the second customer device(s) 130, the point of saleterminal(s) 135, and the media hub(s) 140. At operation 905 b, thesecond customer device(s) 130 has made a mobile payment for an item inthe facility 170. The mobile payment has been transferred to the pointof sale terminal(s) 135 and/or the media hub(s) 140. The mobile paymentmay include, e.g., a payment made using an NFC chip, a payment madeusing a PayPal® account, a payment made using digital currency, etc. Atoperation 910 b, the point of sale terminal(s) 135 and/or the mediahub(s) 140 provide the second customer device(s) 130 with an electronicreceipt for the purchase. The electronic receipt may be provideddirectly to a mobile application on the second customer device(s) 130.Advantageously, the electronic receipt may be free from interceptionand/or crawling by third-parties, such as third-party email clientsand/or third party web browsers.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary depiction of a computer system, according to animplementation of the invention. In the example of FIG. 10, the computersystem 1000 can be a computer system that can be used as a clientcomputer system, such as a wireless client or a workstation, or a servercomputer system. The computer system 1000 includes a computer 1005, I/Odevices 1010, and a display device 1015. The computer 1005 includes atleast one processor 1020, a communications interface 1025, memory 1030,display controller 1035, non-volatile storage 1040, and I/O controller1045. The computer 1005 can be coupled to or include the I/O devices1010 and display device 1015.

The computer 1005 interfaces to external systems through thecommunications interface 1025, which can include a modem or networkinterface. It will be appreciated that the communications interface 1025can be considered to be part of the computer system 1000 or a part ofthe computer 1005. The communications interface 1025 can be an analogmodem, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) modem, cable modem,token ring interface, satellite transmission interface (e.g. “directPersonal Computer (PC)”), or other interfaces for coupling a computersystem to other computer systems.

The at least one processor 1020 can be, for example, a conventionalmicroprocessor such as an Intel Pentium microprocessor or Motorola powerPC microprocessor. The memory 1030 is coupled to the at least oneprocessor 1020 by a bus 1050. The memory 1030 can be Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (DRAM) and can also include Static RAM (SRAM). The bus1050 couples the at least one processor 1020 to the memory 1030, also tothe non-volatile storage 1040, to the display controller 1035, and tothe I/O controller 1045.

The I/O devices 1010 can include a keyboard, disk drives, printers, ascanner, and other input and output devices, including a mouse or otherpointing device. The display controller 1035 can control in theconventional manner a display on the display device 1015, which can be,for example, a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD).The display controller 1035 and the I/O controller 1045 can beimplemented with conventional well known technology.

The non-volatile storage 1040 is often a magnetic hard disk, an opticaldisk, or another form of storage for large amounts of data. Some of thisdata is often written, by a direct memory access process, into memory1030 during execution of software in the computer 1005. One of skill inthe art will immediately recognize that the terms “machine-readablemedium” or “computer-readable medium” includes any type of storagedevice that is accessible by the at least one processor 1020 and alsoencompasses a carrier wave that encodes a data signal.

The computer system 1000 is one example of many possible computersystems which have different architectures. For example, personalcomputers based on an Intel microprocessor often have multiple buses,one of which can be an I/O bus for the peripherals and one that directlyconnects the at least one processor 1020 and the memory 1030 (oftenreferred to as a memory bus). The buses are connected together throughbridge components that perform any necessary translation due todiffering bus protocols.

Network computers are another type of computer system that can be usedin conjunction with the teachings provided herein. Network computers donot usually include a hard disk or other mass storage, and theexecutable programs are loaded from a network connection into the memory1030 for execution by the at least one processor 1020. A Web TV system,which is known in the art, is also considered to be a computer system,but it can lack some of the features shown in FIG. 10, such as certaininput or output devices. A typical computer system will usually includeat least at least one processor, memory, and a bus coupling the memoryto the at least one processor.

Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to adesired result. The operations are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasonsof common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

Techniques described herein relate to apparatus for performing theoperations. The apparatus can be specially constructed or programmed forthe required purposes, or it can comprise a computer selectivelyactivated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer.Such a computer program can be stored in a computer readable storagemedium, such as, but is not limited to, read-only memories (ROMs),random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or opticalcards, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs,and magnetic-optical disks, or any type of media suitable for storingelectronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that implementations of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one implementation”, “animplementation”, “some implementations”, “various implementations”,“certain implementations”, “other implementations”, “one series ofimplementations”, or the like means that a particular feature, design,structure, or characteristic described in connection with theimplementation is included in at least one implementation of thedisclosure. The appearances of, for example, the phrase “in oneimplementation” or “in an implementation” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the sameimplementation, nor are separate or alternative implementations mutuallyexclusive of other implementations. Moreover, whether or not there isexpress reference to an “implementation” or the like, various featuresare described, which may be variously combined and included in someimplementations, but also variously omitted in other implementations.Similarly, various features are described that may be preferences orrequirements for some implementations, but not other implementations.

Other implementations, uses and advantages of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Thespecification should be considered exemplary only.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for passively monitoring user devices ata location at which at least one media hub device is deployed, thesystem comprising: a media hub device comprising one or more physicalprocessors programmed by one or more computer program instructions to:passively monitor, at the location, one or more user devices on awireless communication channel; obtain identification information forthe one or more user devices, the identification information includingat least first identification information for a first user device;determine that the first identification information is associated withinformation indicating the first user device has installed aretailer-specific or system-specific client application on the firstuser device; identify media targeted for the first user device; andtransmit the media to the first user device via the wirelesscommunication channel.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the media hubdevice is embedded with or includes a point of sale printer associatedwith a point of sale terminal, and wherein the deployed locationcomprises a retail location, and wherein the media hub device isprogrammed to: determine that a transaction at the point of saleterminal is pending, wherein the media is transmitted to the first userdevice while the transaction is pending.
 3. The system of claim 2,wherein the media hub device is programmed to: determine that thetransaction is complete; identify second media targeted for the firstuser device; and transmit the second media to the first user device viathe wireless communication channel after the transaction is complete. 4.The system of claim 3, wherein the media hub device is programmed to:transmit an electronic receipt to the first user device via the wirelesscommunication channel, wherein the second media is embedded within theelectronic receipt or is provided separately from the electronicreceipt.
 5. The system of claim 2, wherein the media hub device isfurther programmed to: obtain transaction information associated withthe transaction from the point of sale terminal; and store thetransaction information in association with the first identificationinformation in a local datastore of the media hub device, wherein themedia targeted for the first user device is based on previoustransaction information stored in association with the firstidentification information.
 6. The system of claim 2, wherein theidentification information includes at least second identificationinformation for a second user device, and wherein the media hub deviceis further programmed to: determine that the transaction has completed;determine that a second transaction at the point of sale terminal hascompleted while the second user device is passively monitored; andtransmit an invitation to download the retailer-specific orsystem-specific client application to the second user device via thewireless communication channel.
 7. The system of claim 2, wherein themedia hub device is further programmed to: obtain second transactioninformation associated with the second transaction from the point ofsale terminal; and store the second transaction information inassociation with the second identification information in the localdatastore of the media hub device, wherein the second transactioninformation is stored regardless of whether or not the second userdevice has accepted the invitation to download the retailer-specific orsystem-specific client.
 8. The system of claim 2, wherein the media hubdevice is further programmed to: obtain a customer identification fromthe point of sale terminal, the customer identification being used inassociation with the transaction at the point of sale terminal; storethe customer identification in association with the first identificationinformation; and transmit an association between the customeridentification and the first identification information to an offermanagement system via a network.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein thesystem comprises the offer management system, and wherein the offermanagement system is programmed by one or more second physicalprocessors to: monitor online activity of the first user device, theonline activity separate from activity associated with the media hubdevice; identify second targeted media for the first user device basedon the monitored online activity; and transmit the second targeted mediato the first user device.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein to identifythe second targeted media, the offer management system is furtherprogrammed to identify the second targeted media based further on thetransaction at the point of sale terminal.
 11. The system of claim 8,wherein the system comprises the offer management system, and whereinthe offer management system is programmed by one or more second physicalprocessors to: monitor online activity of the first user device, theonline activity separate from activity associated with the media hubdevice; identify second targeted media for the first user device basedon the transaction at the point of sale terminal; and transmit thesecond targeted media to the first user device while the first userdevice is online.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the identificationinformation includes at least second identification information for asecond user device, and wherein the media hub device is furtherprogrammed to: determine that the second user device is associated witha second user that is waiting in line for a second transaction at thepoint of sale terminal to be initiated; and transmit second media to thesecond user device.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the wirelesscommunication channel comprises a short-range wireless communicationchannel.
 14. A computer-implemented method of passively monitoring userdevices at a location at which at least one media hub device isdeployed, the method being implementing on a media hub device comprisingone or more physical processors programmed by one or more computerprogram instructions to perform the method, the method comprising:passively monitoring, by the media hub device, at the location, one ormore user devices on a wireless communication channel; obtaining, by themedia hub device, identification information for the one or more userdevices, the identification information including at least firstidentification information for a first user device; determining, by themedia hub device, that the first identification information isassociated with information indicating the first user device hasinstalled a retailer-specific or system-specific client application onthe first user device; identifying, by the media hub device, mediatargeted for the first user device; and transmitting, by the media hubdevice, the media to the first user device via the wirelesscommunication channel.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the media hubdevice is embedded with or includes a point of sale printer associatedwith a point of sale terminal, and wherein the deployed locationcomprises a retail location, the method further comprising: determining,by the media hub device, that a transaction at the point of saleterminal is pending, wherein the media is transmitted to the first userdevice while the transaction is pending.
 16. The method of claim 15,further comprising: determining, by the media hub device, that thetransaction is complete; identifying, by the media hub device, secondmedia targeted for the first user device; and transmitting, by the mediahub device, the second media to the first user device via the wirelesscommunication channel after the transaction is complete.
 17. The methodof claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, by the media hub device,an electronic receipt to the first user device via the wirelesscommunication channel, wherein the second media is embedded within theelectronic receipt or is provided separately from the electronicreceipt.
 18. The method of claim 15, further comprising: obtaining, bythe media hub device, transaction information associated with thetransaction from the point of sale terminal; and storing, by the mediahub device, the transaction information in association with the firstidentification information in a local datastore of the media hub device,wherein the media targeted for the first user device is based onprevious transaction information stored in association with the firstidentification information.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein theidentification information includes at least second identificationinformation for a second user device, the method further comprising:determining, by the media hub device, that the transaction hascompleted; determining, by the media hub device, that a secondtransaction at the point of sale terminal has completed while the seconduser device is passively monitored; and transmitting, by the media hubdevice, an invitation to download the retailer-specific orsystem-specific client application to the second user device via thewireless communication channel.
 20. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: obtaining, by the media hub device, second transactioninformation associated with the second transaction from the point ofsale terminal; and storing, by the media hub device, the secondtransaction information in association with the second identificationinformation in the local datastore of the media hub device, wherein thesecond transaction information is stored regardless of whether or notthe second user device has accepted the invitation to download theretailer-specific or system-specific client.
 21. The method of claim 15,further comprising: obtaining, by the media hub device, a customeridentification from the point of sale terminal, the customeridentification being used in association with the transaction at thepoint of sale terminal; storing, by the media hub device, the customeridentification in association with the first identification information;and transmitting, by the media hub device, an association between thecustomer identification and the first identification information to anoffer management system via a network.
 22. The method of claim 21,further comprising: monitoring, by the offer management system, onlineactivity of the first user device, the online activity separate fromactivity associated with the media hub device; identifying, by the offermanagement system, second targeted media for the first user device basedon the monitored online activity; and transmitting, by the offermanagement system, the second targeted media to the first user device.23. The method of claim 22, wherein identifying the second targetedmedia comprises: identifying, by the offer management system, the secondtargeted media based further on the transaction at the point of saleterminal.
 24. The method of claim 21, further comprising: monitoring, bythe offer management system, online activity of the first user device,the online activity separate from activity associated with the media hubdevice; identifying, by the offer management system, second targetedmedia for the first user device based on the transaction at the point ofsale terminal; and transmitting, by the offer management system, thesecond targeted media to the first user device while the first userdevice is online.
 25. The method of claim 14, wherein the identificationinformation includes at least second identification information for asecond user device, the method further comprising: determining, by themedia hub device, that the second user device is associated with asecond user that is waiting in line for a second transaction at thepoint of sale terminal to be initiated; and transmitting, by the mediahub device, second media to the second user device.
 26. The method ofclaim 14, wherein transmitting the media to the first user device viathe wireless communication channel comprises transmitting the media tothe first user device via a short-range wireless communication channel.